(AGI) Kandahar - An American military opened fire causing a massacre of civilians outside a base in Southern province of Kandahar. He was probably a nervous wreck. The tragedy was confirmed by Nato sources. The governor of Kahdahar,Tooryalai Wisa, reported that the attack occurred in the district of Panjwai ,and that the civilians killed might have been 16, including women and children. Isaf informed that the military was arrested and expressed condolences for the victims, without providing further figures . .

International Security Assistance Force following a statement on Sunday announced, a United States service member was detained today in connection to an incident that resulted in Afghan casualties in Kandahar province.The statement further added, this is a deeply regrettable incident and we extend our thoughts and concerns to the families involved.ISAF officials said, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), in cooperation with Afghan authorities, will investigate this incident and release additional information as appropriate.The source did not disclose further information regarding the incident and those Afghans who suffered from the incident saying, “Requests for information regarding Afghan casualties should be referred to the Ministry of Interior.”

A US soldier in Afghanistan is reported to have killed a number of Afghan civilians after walking off his base in the southern province of Kandahar.

The soldier - who surrendered to the US military authorities - is thought to have had a breakdown, reports the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.

Nato said it was investigating the "deeply regrettable incident".

Local tribal leaders said women, children and men were among the dead in Panjwai district.

The governor of Kandahar province, Tooryalai Weesa, confirmed there were casualties, but said the exact number of dead and injured would be made known later.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said in a statement that US officials in Afghanistan would work with their Afghan counterparts to investigate what happened.

"This is a deeply regrettable incident and we extend our thoughts and concerns to the families involved," Isaf added.Our correspondent reports sources in Kabul as saying the soldier had some kind of breakdown just before leaving the base and opening fire on civilians.

The incident comes as anti-American sentiment runs high in Afghanistan following the burning of copies of the Koran by US soldiers at a Nato base last month.

US officials apologised, but the incident sparked a series of protests and attacks that killed at least 30 people and six US troops.

SWEET IS SLEEP TO ME AND EVEN MORE TO BE OF STONE,WHILE THE WRONG AND SHAME ENDURE.TO BE WITHOUT SIGHT OR SENSE IS A MOST HAPPY CHANGE FOR ME,THEREFORE DO NOT ROUSE ME. HUSH! SPEAK LOW. I said to God "I hate Life" God replied "Who asked you to love life? Just Love me & life will be beautiful" Living in favorable and unfavorable conditions is PART of living. Smiling in all those conditions is ART of living."Anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure you're worshiping an idol"

"We will investigate the incident" Yeah right! even if prosecuted, he will be released after serving 7 months in "prison".

- Behind every child born in india, There is ISI and Pakistan involved.
- There is excess salt in my chicken karahi .. i think ISI is involved
- I pissed three times today,, it is a conspiracy by ISI
- " My Girlfriend left me for an ISI Agent "

There will be many in the US who will quietly be happy this happened the American injustice system will release this cowboy terrorist after declaring those killed were sub human.

Do the Afghans now have the balls to demand custody of this terrorist or will they need the Taleban to take revenge as the whole Afghan army and government will be clearly seen as a US proxy if they don't demand this.

There will be many in the US who will quietly be happy this happened the American injustice system will release this cowboy terrorist after declaring those killed were sub human.

Do the Afghans now have the balls to demand custody of this terrorist or will they need the Taleban to take revenge as the whole Afghan army and government will be clearly seen as a US proxy if they don't demand this.

Many Yanks are already rejoicing the coldblooded murder of women and children. Many Yankee sites are filled with justifications and even sheer happiness. I'm surprised they haven't blamed Pakistan yet. First, Pakistan was the main suspect. Now, suddenly they have turned on each other.

Don't expect much from the Afghan army nor government. They aren't elected by the people, but installed by their Yankee masters.

incidents like this POISON any hopes of "success" in ISAF's missionwhat can the government in kabul tell its people, what would hold back the afghans and their code of pasthunwali

the word will spread (jus like the quran burning incident and other incidents past) and for the next few weeks this will be the rallying cry among afghans

when looked at in hind sight in 10 or 20 years, it will be events like this where people will say the war was lost

"The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self." (Bukhari)

"Acquire knowledge, it enables its prosessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven. It is our friend in thedesert, our company in solitude and companion when friendless. It guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it is an ornament amongst friends and an armor against enemies." (widely attributed to the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh))

PANJWAI, Afghanistan — Stalking from home to home, a United States Army sergeant methodically killed at least 16 civilians, 9 of them children, in a rural stretch of southern Aghanistan early Sunday, igniting fears of a new wave of anti-American hostility, Afghan and American officials said.

Residents of three villages in the Panjwai district of Kandahar Province described a terrifying string of attacks in which the soldier, who had walked more than a mile from his base, tried door after door, eventually breaking in to kill within three separate houses. At the first, the man gathered 11 bodies, including those of four girls younger than 6, and set fire to them, villagers said.

Coming after a period of deepening public outrage, spurred by the Koran burning by American personnel last month and an earlier video showing American Marines urinating on dead militants, the apparently unprovoked killings added to a feeling of siege here among Western personnel. And officials described a growing sense of concern over a cascading series of missteps and offenses that has cast doubt on the ability of NATO personnel to carry out their mission and has left troops and trainers increasingly vulnerable to violence by Afghans seeking revenge.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, calling it in a statement an “inhuman and intentional act” and demanding justice. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta later called Mr. Karzai to express “profound regret” and assure that “this terrible incident does not reflect our shared values or the progress we have made together,” Mr. Panetta’s office said in a statement.

American officials in Kabul were scrambling to understand what had happened, and appealed for calm. Officials gave no details about the suspected killer other than to describe him as an Army staff sergeant who was acting alone. “The initial reporting that we have at this time indicates there was one shooter, and we have one man in custody,” said Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a NATO spokesman.

In Panjwai, a reporter for The New York Times who inspected bodies that had been taken to the nearby American military base counted 16 dead, and saw burns on some of the children’s legs and heads. “All the family members were killed, the dead put in a room, and blankets were put over the corpses and they were burned,” said Anar Gul, an elderly neighbor who rushed to the house after the soldier had left. “We put out the fire.”

The villagers also brought some of the burned blankets on motorbikes to display at the base, Camp Belambay, in Kandahar, and show that the bodies had been set alight. Soon, more than 300 people had gathered outside to protest.

At least five other Afghans were wounded in the attacks, officials said, some of them seriously, indicating the death toll could rise. NATO said several casualties were being treated at a military hospital.

One of the survivors from the attack, Abdul Hadi, 40, said he was at home when a soldier broke down the door.

“My father went out to find out what was happening, and he was killed,” he said. “I was trying to go out and find out about the shooting but someone told me not to move, and I was covered by the women in my family in my room, so that is why I survived.”

Mr. Hadi said there was more than one soldier involved in the attack, and at least five other villagers described seeing a number of soldiers, and also a helicopter and flares at the scene. But that claim was unconfirmed — other Afghan residents described seeing only one shooter — and it was unclear whether or not extra troops sent out to the village after the attack to try to catch the suspect.

In a measure of the mounting levels of mistrust between Afghans and the coalition, however, many Afghans, including lawmakers and other officials, said they believed the attack had been planned and were incredulous that one American soldier could have carried out such an attack without help. In his statement, President Karzai said “American forces” had entered the houses in Panjwai, but at another point he said the killings were the act of an individual soldier.

Others called for calm. Abdul Hadi Arghandehwal, the minister of economy and the leader of Hezb-e Islami, a major Afghan political party with Islamist leanings, said there would probably be new protests. But he said the killings should be seen as the act of an individual and not of the United States.

“It is not the decision of the army officer to order somebody to do something like this,” he said. “Probably there are going to be many demonstrations, but it will not change the decisions of our government about our relationship with the United States.”

Elsewhere, news of the killings was spreading only slowly. Other than the protest at the base in Kandahar, there were no immediate signs of the fury that fueled rioting across the country after the burning of Korans by American military personnel in February.

Both the United States Embassy in Kabul, which immediately urged caution among Americans traveling or living in Afghanistan, and the military coalition rushed to head off any further outrage, deploring the attack, offering condolences for the families and promising the soldier would be brought to justice. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, the NATO spokesman, expressed his “deep sadness” and said that while the motive for the attack was not yet clear, it looked like an isolated incident.

“I am not linking this to the recent incidents over the recent days and weeks,” he said. “It looks very much like an individual act. We have to look into the background behind it.”

Adding to the sense of concern, the killings came two days after an episode in Kapisa Province, in eastern Afghanistan, in which NATO helicopters apparently hunting Taliban insurgents instead fired on civilians, killing four and wounding another three, Afghan officials said. About 1,200 demonstrators marched in protest in Kapisa on Saturday.

The quick American move on Sunday to detain the shooter could help to avoid a repeat of last month’s unrest. The reaction to the Koran-burning case revealed a huge cultural gap between the Americans, who saw it as an unfortunate mistake, and the Afghans, who viewed it as a crime and wanted to see those responsible tried as criminals.

Both the Afghans and Americans agreed on the severity of Sunday’s killings, and General Jacobson said the case would be aggressively pursued by American legal authorities.

Less clear, however, is the impact on continuing tense negotiations between the United States and Afghanistan on the terms of the long-term American presence in the country. The upheaval provoked by the Koran burnings led to a near-breakdown in strategic partnership talks between the Afghan and United States governments, although those negotiations appeared tentatively back on track after a deal struck Friday for the Afghans to assume control of the main coalition prison in six months.

The strategic partnership talks must still address differences over the American campaign of night raids on Afghan houses. It is unclear now what effect the latest episode will have on those talks — especially since the attack had some similarities to the night raids carried out by coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The shootings also carried some echoes of an attack in March 2007 in eastern Afghanistan, when several Marines opened fire with automatic weapons killing as many as 19 civilians after a suicide car bomb struck the Marines’ convoy, wounding one Marine.

Panjwai, a rural suburb of Kandahar, was traditionally a Taliban stronghold. It was a focus of the United States military offensive in 2010 and was the scene of heavy fighting. And in recent weeks, two American soldiers were killed by small-arms fire on the same day, March 1, in the area, and three died in a roadside bomb attack in February.

SWEET IS SLEEP TO ME AND EVEN MORE TO BE OF STONE,WHILE THE WRONG AND SHAME ENDURE.TO BE WITHOUT SIGHT OR SENSE IS A MOST HAPPY CHANGE FOR ME,THEREFORE DO NOT ROUSE ME. HUSH! SPEAK LOW. I said to God "I hate Life" God replied "Who asked you to love life? Just Love me & life will be beautiful" Living in favorable and unfavorable conditions is PART of living. Smiling in all those conditions is ART of living."Anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure you're worshiping an idol"

If ISAF was at least somewhat wise in its strategy; it should search its ranks for lose cannons; other wise an afghan version of the My Lai massacre or haditha "incident" will just about in sink ANY hope at even a "dignified exit" and hope a government in kabul has any hope of acceptance by the people in the pashtun provinces

they should look for those that are mental cases (the rates of suicides should be proof of a break down in the force), religiously motivated "soilders for christ" type fanatics, and general nut jobs that can't follow orders of restrained

"The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self." (Bukhari)

"Acquire knowledge, it enables its prosessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven. It is our friend in thedesert, our company in solitude and companion when friendless. It guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it is an ornament amongst friends and an armor against enemies." (widely attributed to the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh))

This is just one of the many incidents that was fortunate to be reported. There have been countless cases of them killing children, men and women, that one loses count. If you check out this Taliban website, it will show. Also shown is the amount of UNREPORTED CASUALTIES that NATO soldiers are suffering on a daily basis. On average 10-15 troops die every day mainly by landmines or IED. Occasionally hit and run attacks by the Taliban guerillas score hits even in their own bases. Such attacks consist of mortars, and shoulder fired missiles, machine gun attacks, and even suicide bombings. www.shahamat-english.com

wikileaks aghan logs can confirm their casualty figures, from the months of may till july 07 alone, 100+ US/NATO troops were killed in IED attacks ,,

then is the war itself that has seriously drained their economy,, for every 1$ the afghan insurgents spend on an IED, the US has to spend a staggering 1000$ for counter measures ( MRAPs, robots etc ) ,,, that said, the IED is the single most profitable ROI (return on investment ) ever, the afghan rebels must be truly pleased ..

eventually, the US/nato nexus will lose this fight , KIA aside, the thousands of WIA with missing limbs and battle injuries ( both psychological and physical ) will further burden their respective countries in the form of time and money spent on prosthetics and rehab (they'll still be useless to the society anyway ) ,,

There will be many in the US who will quietly be happy this happened the American injustice system will release this cowboy terrorist after declaring those killed were sub human.<Do the Afghans now have the **** to demand custody of this terrorist or will they need the Taleban to take revenge as the whole Afghan army and government will be clearly seen as a US proxy if they don't demand this.<br />

They aren't even quiet about it, many of their news sites have been filled with hundreds of thousands of comments calling for mass killings of all foreigners around the world 365 days a year.

Those who still don't understand, what is at work here is white anglo-saxony supremacy coupled with capitalism. This is not something new, it has been in their newspapers since 1780. First the black people were subjected to this for 170 years and 200 years before that but now they can't because black people make up a large % of the population and can fight back.

However the white supremacy that is innate in the anglo-saxon is still present. That will never change. And coupled with that is american cultural greed to dominate the earth's resources. This makes for quite a barbaric specimen. So now he goes to different parts of the globe such as vietnam, south america, africa and most recenly the middle east the last 20 years to slake his thirst for different races' blood. This is different from other empires' in that they had limits to their barbarism. Even Rome and the oppressive Mughal empire in Indian subcontinent granted the indigenous people rights and had a few governments that tried to absorb the indigenous culture into their own. You won't find a single instance of this in american history for the last 400 years. Even the rights given to foreigners here in usa are only present so as to bolster their economy by letting them work in a superficial peace.

If anyone looks at their history for 400 years of the past and thinks any differently, he's just a fool or traitor. It's all there right in front of him. Whether he chooses to ignore it is his affair

[sarcasm]Yet, Aghans aren't allowed to have "nervous breakdowns" after generation of constant warfare, they are simply ungrateful medievel barbarians, or terrorists [/sarcasm]

SWEET IS SLEEP TO ME AND EVEN MORE TO BE OF STONE,WHILE THE WRONG AND SHAME ENDURE.TO BE WITHOUT SIGHT OR SENSE IS A MOST HAPPY CHANGE FOR ME,THEREFORE DO NOT ROUSE ME. HUSH! SPEAK LOW. I said to God "I hate Life" God replied "Who asked you to love life? Just Love me & life will be beautiful" Living in favorable and unfavorable conditions is PART of living. Smiling in all those conditions is ART of living."Anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure you're worshiping an idol"

“It is unfathomable how American military personnel in Afghanistan could decide to burn copies of the Holy Quran. Muslims consider destruction of the Holy Book blasphemous. A decade after the United States intervened in Afghanistan; all American forces should know that.”– New York Times (Editorial)

The callous burning of the Holy Quran by bigots in the American military has spawned numerous protests across Afghanistan that hitherto has left 29 people dead and scores wounded. President Barack Obama’s half-hearted apology has only added fuel to the incessant outrage expressed by ordinary Afghans, who widely perceive America’s occupation of their country as a wholesale onslaught on Islamic values. Only few weeks ago, US troops were caught on camera smiling and urinating on dead Afghans. The vilification of Afghans and their Islamic values is not limited to these incidents alone.

The mutilation of dead bodies, horrific abuse of prisoners in Bagram, rape of young girls, and mindless civilian massacres have become the hallmark of America’s malicious crusade in Afghanistan. No matter how hard the US tries to downplay this vitriolic incident, the latest episode is a vivid reminder to the rest of the world that barbarism and not emancipation from tyranny is the hallmark of its war machine.

One would have thought that having spent over a decade fighting wars in the Muslim world, the US soldiers would at the very least, be accustomed to the cultural sensitivities of Muslims. But no, we find the complete opposite. Wherever the American military intervenes, it leaves behind a trail of death and destruction with rancorous behaviour unworthy of a leading nation that also prides itself on tolerance. Look for instance, the indiscriminate killings of unarmed civilians by the US drones and Special Forces in Pakistan, or the immunity granted to Raymond Davis for his cold blooded murder of Pakistanis in broad daylight. This clearly undermines America’s penchant for disregarding human rights it so evangelically preaches to the rest of the world. Take America’s war in Iraq as another example: The cruel humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and the senseless killing of unarmed civilians in Haditha are portent reminders about the fruits of America’s Iraqi occupation. Yet, despite such uncivilised acts perpetrated by USA’s military, its soldiers are lavished with praise and their crimes against humanity are overlooked. At the end of last year, President Obama told the troops coming home from Iraq: “As your Commander-in-Chief, and on behalf of a grateful nation, I am proud to finally say these two words.”

Worse still, there are no serious efforts by America’s political establishment or senior officers to change the uncivilised conduct of US troops. Wherever they are stationed, the Pentagon immediately seeks immunity from prosecution, as a mandatory condition in exchange for security pacts or military aid. In other words, there are no repercussions for the evil acts committed by the US soldiers against indigenous populations. If by chance a US soldier is found guilty, sham trials are convened by the US military (the conclusion of Haditha massacre trial early this year) to ensure that punishment does not fit the crime. The US military goes to great length to instil savagery within its personnel by making certain that barbarism is institutionalised. The recent National Defence Authorisation Act passed by the US Senate epitomises such measures, which legalises sex with animals and permits sodomy.

As the US military is committed to preserving its barbarian code and despicable values, one can only imagine what type of training the US military imparts to nations around the globe. So, what is the root cause behind such reckless behaviour that defies human logic? The explanation that “a few rotten apples” are to blame is no longer plausible and does not merit a discussion. Nor can America’s military culture be held solely responsible for nurturing a generation of young men and women, who show scant respect for foreign cultures and people.

On the contrary, the military culture is based on the very foundations that the rest of American society is built. The sole driver for such behaviour is freedom, which is the bedrock of USA’s cherished ideals and responsible for shaping popular culture, corporate culture, social values and ethics. It is on this very basis that the military in Western countries, especially in America, is responsible for moulding the attitudes of its military personnel.

Men and women, fed from a young age on a diet of freedom enlist in the army as defenders of freedom, undergo weapons training and are eventually deployed overseas. Here, they find themselves in a different environment; laws and restrictions of the home country no longer impinge on what one can say and do and the weapons in their possessions makes them feel that they can finally say and do whatever they desire. Naturally, the indigenous populations’ beliefs, values, property, life and dignity are quickly trounced upon - all in the name of freedom.

Freedom is a fanciful idea and always leads to disputes and violence. The West claims that individuals are free to do whatever they choose and indoctrinates within its populace the desire to be free. But, in practice, this leads to unending conflicts amongst the people, as the views expressed by a few, or the behaviour exhibited by some, can be interpreted as offensive and insulting to others. Hence, the Western governments are persistently intervening in disputes and resort to severity of the law to protect the freedoms of some people by depriving others of their freedom to express thoughts and behave in a certain way.

Often, the real benefactors of freedom are those individuals or groups whose views or conduct coincides with the interests of the government, or the powerful capitalists who possess the ability to exert influence over the government. That is why so many institutions, including military establishments in the West, are given free rein to attack Islam because their fiery rhetoric and discriminatory policies are in full harmony with the West’s unfinished war on Islam. However, if the Western media, or its numerous institutions, were to insult Jews or the Zionist state of Israel, the Western governments would swiftly adopt stern measures to restrict their insults.

On foreign policy matters, the Western governments manipulate freedom to either pry open societies closed to Western values, or totally ignore freedom when it does not concur with their interests. In the case of the Arab uprising and the continued massacre of Muslims at the bloody hands of Western agents, like Bashar Al-Assad, the West has chosen to water down its response, as the protestors are avid supporters of Islam and not democracy. Such hypocrisy only serves to underscore the perception amongst Muslims that America and Europe are solely interested in the utter destruction of Islamic values and practices.

Islam does not believe in the whimsical idea of freedom, where a handful of men decide which thoughts and behaviours are legally beyond censure, and which thoughts and practices are subject to criticism and can be tried in a court of law. Islam stipulates that life, honour, blood, property, belief, race and the mind are to be protected by the Islamic State. All the citizens of the Caliphate are guaranteed these rights, irrespective of whether they are Muslim or non-Muslims.

Islam also protects the rights of non-Muslims to worship without any fear of retribution, or vilification of their beliefs. The Messenger (saw) of Allah said: "One who hurts a dhimmi (non-Muslim citizen of the Caliphate), he hurts me and the one who hurts me, hurts Allah." Therefore, it is prohibited for a Muslim to insult the beliefs of a non-Muslim, spill their blood, harm their places of worship and desecrate their property.

The Islamic history is unrivalled in its capacity to guarantee the religious rights of non-Muslims under the shade of the Caliphate. At the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA), the Islamic army conquered Syria, but quickly returned the Kharaj collected from Homs, a town inhabited by Christians and Jews. The Muslims reasoned with the non-Muslims that they were returning the money, as they were unable to protect their life, blood, honour and property from the regrouping Roman Army. So impressed were the non-Muslims that they said: “We like your rule and justice far better than the state of oppression and tyranny in which we were. The army of Heraclius we shall indeed, with your 'amil's' help, repulse from the city." The Jews rose and said: "We swear by the Torah, no Governor of Heraclius shall enter the city of Homs, unless we are first vanquished and exhausted!" Saying this, they closed the gates of the city and guarded them.

The inhabitants of the other cities - Christian and Jew - that had capitulated to the Muslims did the same, saying: "If Heraclius and his followers win over the Muslims we would return to our previous condition, otherwise we shall retain our present state so long as numbers are with the Muslims" (Kitab Futuh al-Buldan of Ahmad ibn-Jabir al-Baladhuri, translated by P.K. Hitti and F.C. Murgotten, Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, LXVIII, New York, Columbia University Press,1916 and 1924). The protection of non-Muslims under the caliphate continued for centuries, and Christians and Jews lived under the protection of state, once their lands were opened to Islam.

During the rule of Sultan Mohammed the conqueror, the sultan pledged to protect the Christians and Franscisan monastery in Fojinica after the conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 28, 1463. This pledge was stated as:” No one shall disturb or give harm to these people and their churches! They shall live in peace in my state. These people, who have become emigrants, shall have security and liberty. They may return to their monasteries, which are located in the borders of my state. No one from my empire notable, viziers, clerks or my maids will break their honour or give any harm to them! No one shall insult, put in danger or attack these lives, properties, and churches of these people! Also, what and those who these people have brought from their own countries have the same rights.......” (Light Millennium: A Culture of Peaceful Coexistence: The Ottoman Turkish Example by Prof Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu).

The only way to prevent the West and its surrogates from attacking Islam and humiliating Muslims is to re-establish the caliphate. The rights of the Muslims were protected, until the very last days of the caliphate. During the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, Britain decided to stage a play, which depicted the life of the Messenger (saw) of Allah in a derogatory manner. On hearing this, Sultan Abdul Hamid complained to the British government to stop the play. The British government defended its decision to hold the play citing free speech. But when the Sultan threatened Britain with military action it immediately relented.

The writer is a political commentator, who specialises on Muslim affairs and global issues. Email: provokethought@hotmail.co.uk

SWEET IS SLEEP TO ME AND EVEN MORE TO BE OF STONE,WHILE THE WRONG AND SHAME ENDURE.TO BE WITHOUT SIGHT OR SENSE IS A MOST HAPPY CHANGE FOR ME,THEREFORE DO NOT ROUSE ME. HUSH! SPEAK LOW. I said to God "I hate Life" God replied "Who asked you to love life? Just Love me & life will be beautiful" Living in favorable and unfavorable conditions is PART of living. Smiling in all those conditions is ART of living."Anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure you're worshiping an idol"

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- In a village in the district of Panjwai, in Kandahar province, a young man sits against a tree with his knees to his chest and his head hanging down. When he lifts his head, his eyes are full of tears.

The reason for his sorrow is lying in the back of pickup trucks a few yards away.

In the back of the trucks, a dead toddler with a bloodstained face lies between two dead men. In another truck, a blanket is pulled back to reveal the charred legs and feet of two more bodies. All of them are villagers killed in an attack while they slept in their homes before dawn Sunday.

They are some of the 16 victims of what Afghan officials have said was a rampage by a U.S. soldier from a base in western Kandahar.

"One guy came in and pulled a boy from his sleep and he shot him in this doorway. Then they came back inside the room and put a gun in the mouth of one child and stomped on another child," a mother said as she sat in her home.

Another mother was filled with rage and sorrow as she sat in one of the vehicles transporting the dead.

"Four girls and four boys. They are 2-year-olds. Are these Talibs?" she barked.[stupid reporter, what a demeaning word to use for someone expressing grief]

The Taliban have vowed revenge for the incident, but so far, no violent protests have erupted. Meanwhile, the families in the two villages where the shooting occurred spent the day burying their loved ones.

The western district has been known to be a hotbed of Taliban activity, even considered the birthplace of the Taliban. But the woman said she swears she hadn't seen Taliban fighters in five months.

She said she was one of many who had moved back to the village because people on the nearby military base had said it was safe to return home, and that nobody would bother them.

"This base told us to come back to our villages ... we will not bother you. This is your land, and this is your own village," she said. "But these dogs came and grabbed us."

President Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials have expressed their sorrow and condolences to the families. But that had little meaning in the village, where a local minister said one family lost 11 members Sunday.

"Look at these bodies. They all belong to one family," one of the villagers said through tears.

Old and young men alike wept openly, while investigators sifted through the grisly scene picking up shell casings and picking through at least one home where the floors and walls were stained with blood.

Sorrow was soon replaced by anger at American forces. Some of the villagers said there was more than one soldier on the ground when the killings occurred.

But the International Security Assistance Force, the U.S.-led NATO mission in Afghanistan, said that was not the case -- that the killings appear to be the result of a single soldier, who walked away from his outpost and acted alone.

There was new information Monday about the soldier accused of the killings. A Department of Defense official told CNN the man, a staff sergeant, was a qualified infantry sniper, trained to hit to kill at about 800 meters. He had spent three tours of duty in Iraq, where he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2010 vehicle accident.

After treatment, he was cleared to return to duty and was serving his first tour in Afghanistan.

The massacre has further inflamed tensions between U.S. and Afghan leaders and the people of Afghanistan. Afghan lawmakers have asked for a public trial to be held on Afghan soil, but Pentagon spokesman George Little said the case would be handled by the American military.

"The soldier was never in the custody of Afghan forces and will not face punishment under the Afghan justice system," Little said. "The U.S. military has strong means to address wrongdoing. There is an agreement in place with the government of Afghanistan, so that the investigation -- and when appropriate, prosecution -- will be done through U.S. military channels."

But village tribal leaders said their people can't comprehend how a trained professional soldier could have acted alone and done such a thing.

SWEET IS SLEEP TO ME AND EVEN MORE TO BE OF STONE,WHILE THE WRONG AND SHAME ENDURE.TO BE WITHOUT SIGHT OR SENSE IS A MOST HAPPY CHANGE FOR ME,THEREFORE DO NOT ROUSE ME. HUSH! SPEAK LOW. I said to God "I hate Life" God replied "Who asked you to love life? Just Love me & life will be beautiful" Living in favorable and unfavorable conditions is PART of living. Smiling in all those conditions is ART of living."Anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure you're worshiping an idol"

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the death penalty is a consideration as the military moves to investigate and possibly put on trial a U.S. soldier suspected of gunning down 16 Afghans.

In his first public remarks on the incident, Panetta said Monday the shootings must not derail the military mission in Afghanistan, and pressure to do so from political leaders in Kabul and Washington must not alter that course.

He said the U.S. seems to get confronted every other day with challenges that test U.S. leadership and its commitment to the mission.

Panetta shed little light on what may have triggered the weekend massacre, but said officials will use the military justice system, and that capital punishment is possible.

He spoke with reporters traveling with him to Kyrgyzstan on Monday.

SWEET IS SLEEP TO ME AND EVEN MORE TO BE OF STONE,WHILE THE WRONG AND SHAME ENDURE.TO BE WITHOUT SIGHT OR SENSE IS A MOST HAPPY CHANGE FOR ME,THEREFORE DO NOT ROUSE ME. HUSH! SPEAK LOW. I said to God "I hate Life" God replied "Who asked you to love life? Just Love me & life will be beautiful" Living in favorable and unfavorable conditions is PART of living. Smiling in all those conditions is ART of living."Anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure you're worshiping an idol"

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — An Afghan man recounted Monday the harrowing tale of how an American soldier on a killing spree burst into his home in the middle of the night, searched the rooms, then dropped to a knee and shot his father in the thigh as he emerged from a bedroom.

The staff sergeant is now in custody, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, most of them children, and then burning many of the bodies. The name of the 38-year-old soldier was not released because it would be “inappropriate” to do so before charges are filed, said Pentagon spokesman George Little.

Sunday’s attack in southern Kandahar province comes as anti-Americanism already is boiling over in Afghanistan after U.S. troops burned Korans last month and a video of Marines urinating on alleged Taliban corpses was posted on the Internet in January.

If the attack unleashes another wave of anti-foreigner hatred, it could threaten the future of the U.S.-led coalition’s mission in Afghanistan. The events have also raised doubts among U.S. political figures that the long and costly war is worthy.

NATO and member countries said the slayings were a blow to the alliance’s efforts to cultivate trust but would not affect the timeline to hand over security operations to Afghans by the end of 2014. The White House said U.S. objectives will not change because of the killings.

Outraged Afghan lawmakers called for a suspension of talks on how to formalize a long-term U.S. military presence in the country and demanded that the shooter face trial in an Afghan court.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday evening the death penalty is a consideration as the military moves to investigate and possibly put the suspect on trial.

In his first public remarks on the incident, Panetta said the shootings must not derail the military mission in Afghanistan and pressure to do so from political leaders in Kabul and Washington must not alter that course.

“We seem to get tested almost every other day with challenges that test our leadership and our commitment to the mission that we’re involved in,” Panetta told reporters traveling with him to Krygzystan. “War is hell.

The soldier was deployed to Afghanistan on Dec. 3 with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord located south of Seattle, according to a congressional source, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

He was attached Feb. 1 to the village stability program in Belambai, a half-mile from one of the villages where the attack took place, the source said.The soldier, who has been in the military for 11 years, served three tours in Iraq and is married with two children, was being held in pretrial confinement in Kandahar by the U.S. military while Army officials review his complete deployment and medical history, Pentagon officials said.

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation, said Monday that during a recent tour of duty in Iraq, the suspect was involved in a vehicle accident and suffered a head injury, although information about the extent of the injury was not available Monday. The vehicle accident was not combat-related event, and there was no available indication that his injury could be linked to any abnormal behavior afterward, the official said.

Two U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the suspect had been trained as a sniper.

Villager Mohammad Zahir told how he watched the soldier enter his house and move through it methodically, checking each room.

“I heard a gunshot. When I came out of my room, somebody entered our house. He was in a NATO forces uniform. I didn’t see his face because it was dark,” he said.

Zahir, 26, said he quickly went to a part of the house where animals are penned.

“After that, I saw him moving to different areas of the house — like he was searching,” he said.

His father, unarmed, then took a few steps out of his bedroom, Zahir recalled.

“He was not holding anything — not even a cup of tea,” Zahir said. Then the soldier fired.

“I love my father, but I was sure that if I came out he would shoot me too. So I waited.” Zahir said. His mother started pulling his father into the room, and he helped cover his father’s bullet wound with a cloth. Zahir’s father survived.

After the gunman left, Zahir said he heard more gunshots near the house, and he stayed in hiding for a few minutes to make sure he was gone.

The shooting rampage unfolded in two villages near a U.S. base. An enraged President Hamid Karzai called it “an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians” that cannot be forgiven. He demanded an explanation from Washington for the deaths, which included nine children and three women.

Tensions between Afghanistan and the United States soared last month after word of the Koran burnings got out. President Barack Obama said the burnings were a mistake and apologized.

The strains had appeared to be easing as recently as Friday, when the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding about the transfer of Afghan detainees to Afghan control — a key step toward an eventual strategic partnership to govern U.S. forces in the country after most combat troops leave in 2014.

In Afghanistan’s parliament, however, lawmakers called Monday for a halt to talks on the strategic partnership document until it is clear that soldier behind the shooting rampage is facing justice in Afghanistan.

“We said to Karzai: If you sign that document, you are betraying your country,” said Shikiba Ashimi, a parliamentarian from Kandahar. “There is no more tolerance for this kind of incident. It is over, over. We want such people on trial inside Afghanistan, in Afghan courts.”

“The U.S. should be very careful. It is sabotaging the atmosphere of this strategic partnership,” she added.

Currently, American service members in Afghanistan are subject to U.S. military law and proceedings. But the parliamentarians said they want this changed in the document under negotiation. The U.S. is unlikely to agree to that issue, pulling out of Iraq when Baghdad demanded the right to prosecute U.S. forces.

The photographs of dead toddlers wrapped in bloody blankets in Panjwai district started to make the rounds in Afghanistan on Monday. The images were broadcast on Afghan TV stations, and people posted them on social network sites and blogs.

The public response to the shootings so far has been calmer than the six days of riots and attacks after Korans were burned at Bagram Air Field, leaving 30 people dead including six U.S. soldiers.

The more muted response could be a result of Afghans being used to dealing with civilian casualties over a decade of war. Some said the slayings in Panjwai was more in keeping with Afghans’ experience of deadly night raids and airstrikes than the Koran burnings were.

“It’s not that these things have an immediate effect, it’s that they exacerbate tensions, and I think we’re seeing the U.S. and the Afghan governments being really impatient with each other. There’s an element of mistrust, and these incidents really exacerbate that,” said Kate Clark, of the Kabul-based Afghan Analysts Network.

There’s also a question of how the slayings will affect ongoing attempts to negotiate with the Taliban, who may feel that they have a stronger position to appeal to the people. The insurgent group vowed revenge for the attack.

The al-Qaida-linked militant group said in a statement on their website that “sick-minded American savages” committed the “blood-soaked and inhumane crime” in a rural region that is the cradle of the Taliban and where coalition forces have fought for control for years.

U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan have stepped up security following the shootings out of concern about retaliatory attacks. The U.S. Embassy has also warned American citizens in Afghanistan about the possibility of reprisals. As standard practice, the coalition increased security following the shootings out of concern about retaliatory attacks, said German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a coalition spokesman.

The suspect in the shootings began his first deployment to Afghanistan in December, according to a senior U.S. official. However, he had only been assigned to the base in Panjwai about six weeks ago, the congressional source said.

He is from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and was assigned to support a special operations unit of either Green Berets or Navy SEALs engaged in a village stability operation, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still ongoing. Special operations troops pair with local residents chosen by village elders to become essentially a sanctioned, armed neighborhood watch.

The Army Criminal Investigation Division has started an investigation into the incident, said Chris Grey, a spokesman for the division. He declined to give other details to protect the integrity of the investigation.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said the gunman left the base in Panjwai district and walked about one mile (1,800 meters) to Balandi village. Villagers described how they cowered in fear around 3 a.m. as gunshots rang out and the soldier roamed from house to house, firing on those inside. They said he entered three homes in all and set fire to some of the bodies after he killed them.

Eleven of the 12 civilians killed in Balandi were from the same family. The remaining victim was a neighbor.

From Balandi, the gunman walked roughly one mile to the village of Alkozai, which was only about 500 meters from the American military base. There the gunman killed four people in one house and then moved to Zahir’s house, where he shot his father in the leg.

The exact circumstances of his arrest were unclear. Some U.S. officials said the soldier returned to base after the shootings and was taken into custody, while later reports suggested he did not turn himself in.

Some Afghan officials and villagers expressed doubt that a single U.S. soldier could have carried out all the killings and burned the bodies afterward.Some villagers also told officials there were multiple soldiers and heard shooting from different directions. But many others said they only saw a single soldier.

Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, another spokesman for the coalition, insisted there was only one gunman.

“There’s no indication that there was more than one shooter,” he said.

Agha Lalia, member of the Kandahar provincial council who is from Panjwai district, said he spoke to two people who were injured in the shooting at a hospital at Kandahar Air Field, where they are being treated by coalition medical personnel. Both said they only saw one soldier shooting.

SWEET IS SLEEP TO ME AND EVEN MORE TO BE OF STONE,WHILE THE WRONG AND SHAME ENDURE.TO BE WITHOUT SIGHT OR SENSE IS A MOST HAPPY CHANGE FOR ME,THEREFORE DO NOT ROUSE ME. HUSH! SPEAK LOW. I said to God "I hate Life" God replied "Who asked you to love life? Just Love me & life will be beautiful" Living in favorable and unfavorable conditions is PART of living. Smiling in all those conditions is ART of living."Anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure you're worshiping an idol"

How do they explain him gain exist pass and that too at 3:00 am with a vehicle( as he went to multiple villages and to kill hence on foot if BS) and enough ammo as well as fuel to burn the dead and than return back to base....

But we Pakistanis are equally responsible for this atrocity as we have not only provided passage for entry and exist for USA troops to Afghanistan but also we are providing them a supply route via which they can take these weapons and kill the innocent people.

Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947. As the Creator willed it, the date corresponded with the empowering night of Ramadan 27 of the year 1366 after the Prophet’s Hijra. Its great destiny was thus set from the start

If we take our inspiration and guidance from the Holy Qur’an, the final victory, I once again say, will be ours… Do not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task… You only have to develop the spirit of the Mujahids. You are a nation whose history is replete with people of wonderful character and heroism. Live up to your traditions and add to another chapter of glory. All I require of you now is that everyone… must vow to himself and be prepared to sacrifice his all… in building up Pakistan as a bulwark of Islam and as one of the greatest nations whose ideal is peace within and peace without… Islam enjoins on every Mussulman to give protection to his neighbors and to minorities regardless of caste and creed. Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muslims massacred like this is a normal event now, only when such a thing comes closer to home and we start to personally feel this pain will we then wake up and realise whats going on. But unfortunately those more fortunate economically and politically seem to think they will live forever and do not fear what will come to them once they leave this earth.

I can only have hope in my creator to set things right, as the viceroy he set on this earth is doing not much else but causing mass dis-order.

The way it is being made out is that it was some sort of "isolated" incident, they seem to have forgotten the US army "kill" team who was going around shooting civilians up and then placing guns beside them. The US army is increasingly recruiting high school dropouts into its ranks, because the quality folk know there is no point in dying in a war that make a few people very rich. Also the US army of old i.e. the guys who fought in he Pacific were a different class.

He should face the death penalty. Apparently he also has three children and yet he shot children in the head at point blank range.

Blessed be the sacred land, Happy be the bounteous realm, Symbol of high resolve, Land of Pakistan. Blessed be thou citadel of faith. The Order of this Sacred Land Is the might of the brotherhood of the people. May the nation, the country, and the State Shine in glory everlasting. Blessed be the goal of our ambition. This flag of the Crescent and the Star Leads the way to progress and perfection, Interpreter of our past, glory of our present, Inspiration of our future, Symbol of Almighty's protection.

in the history of the uncivilized american social and violent history; the dominant white community would hunt down negroes (excuse the expression for our African and Black human familymembers).
And they would just hunt them down for fun, or if they didn't say goodday or if they didn't look down while passing a white person. Eventually passing on the same side where only white would walk, talk, be cheerful and be among themselves.

The Negroes would get beaten up, tortured and in worst case be killed while the white community would hold a festival afterwards.

And if any lawsuit was filed, then the juridiciary system in the uncivilized american society would fail miserable due to the police, lawyers and judges would not only take part of the barbaric incident(s) but also prevent any lawcase would be filed.

Thus actually allowing the white dominant community to be the facist upper hand in the society and suppress every non-White Negro (slang word: Nigga) and Red Indian.

This mental mindset hasn't changed in the us army, the us govt, the us media and the american people; they are all in all still backward, primitive and barbaric. And that is why the reason Afghanis are being butchered like if they were Negroes of the supreme white society.

As another member said that the history of the white man is still the same as for 400 years - and the modern western socities aren't going to change due to the Red Indians truely said for long time ago; the white man came and made so many promises but held none of them! Or white man talks with forked tongue!

This mentality still holds till this day.

obama has stated and promised to get the soldier punished, but it doesn't matter since he holds no credibility. As far it is concerned and informed, a highlevelled and old Black activist has criticized obama for doing nothing for his own Black community in usa. And the increasing social injust in usa has not been halted and no effort has been taken place from obama and his administration on this issue.
obama is not going to become president for the the second as a Black president, he has disappointed his own Black community. He is a white-wannabe and apologetic for being Black.

in the history of the uncivilized american social and violent history; the dominant white community would hunt down negroes (excuse the expression for our African and Black human familymembers).And they would just hunt them down for fun, or if they didn't say goodday or if they didn't look down while passing a white person. Eventually passing on the same side where only white would walk, talk, be cheerful and be among themselves.

The Negroes would get beaten up, tortured and in worst case be killed while the white community would hold a festival afterwards.

And if any lawsuit was filed, then the juridiciary system in the uncivilized american society would fail miserable due to the police, lawyers and judges would not only take part of the barbaric incident(s) but also prevent any lawcase would be filed.

Thus actually allowing the white dominant community to be the facist upper hand in the society and suppress every non-White Negro (slang word: Nigga) and Red Indian.

This mental mindset hasn't changed in the us army, the us govt, the us media and the american people; they are all in all still backward, primitive and barbaric. And that is why the reason Afghanis are being butchered like if they were Negroes of the supreme white society.

As another member said that the history of the white man is still the same as for 400 years - and the modern western socities aren't going to change due to the Red Indians truely said for long time ago; the white man came and made so many promises but held none of them! Or white man talks with forked tongue!

This mentality still holds till this day.

obama has stated and promised to get the soldier punished, but it doesn't matter since he holds no credibility. As far it is concerned and informed, a highlevelled and old Black activist has criticized obama for doing nothing for his own Black community in usa. And the increasing social injust in usa has not been halted and no effort has been taken place from obama and his administration on this issue.obama is not going to become president for the the second as a Black president, he has disappointed his own Black community. He is a white-wannabe and apologetic for being Black.

Peace

Excellent observation!!!! This echoes the same thing I said earlier in this topic!! There's ample proof of this too in many documentaries that have been made

Another example which I've personally heard and witnessed is when i heard my own working colleagues speaking out loud about some picture they were viewing. It said; it is ok to burn a woman but not burning the Quran.
At that point everyone around looked at me and I was angry and pissed that in this case; oranges were mixed with apples like it has always been so for 400-500 years in the western socities. Secondly, i was amazed how the white westerners displaced the atrocities commited agaisnt white-western women in the past where they were put on fire with the accusations of being "witches" or being a woman to ensure male dominance in the white western society, when saying anything against the Church and priests was not ok!!!!!

Another example is that out of no where, another colleague said there were talibans in the company and pointed at me. Oh man, i became angry and shouted out clearly no the hell i am not and no one has dared to call me anything like that before. He didn't care and still remained steady as a donkey while laughing mockingly.

I felt insulted just because i have another religion, looks and cultural differences compared to the white man sitting and accusing me like if the Negroes were accused few hundreds years ago.

The white colleague who couldn't think with a logical sense that i have nothing to do with the Taliban and came with a conspiracy which had no fundamental based facts.

And a third white colleague asked me if i was married, and asked if it was my choise or through the parents.
Then he said that is "yours" culture and it is irritating to hear about that sh.i.t. all the time in the media (referring back to the culture and marriage-culture) . Since that day i pass him every day without saying anything, he can sod off for being disrepectful and inproper with his uncivilized approach.

A U.S. Army Staff Sergeant walked through two villages in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan around 3 a.m. March 11, methodically shooting 16 people that he’d dragged from their beds with single shots to the head. Then he dragged corpses outside and set some on fire. Eleven were reportedly from one family. Nine were children.

The Taliban has promised revenge against “sick-minded American savages.” Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta appeared to confirm this characterization when he callously told the press later the same day, “War is hell. These kinds of events and incidents are going to take place. They’ve taken place in any war. They’re terrible events. This is not the first of those events, and they probably won’t be the last.”

“Events” and “incidents” aren’t the pronouns that come to mind when contemplating premeditated multiple murders of sleeping women and children. Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai called the massacre an assassination and “an intentional killing of innocent civilians and cannot be forgiven.”

Seth Jones of the Rand Corporation, a former Special Forces Command officer in the Pentagon, tried to cement the blood-thirsty image of the U.S. at war when he said March 12 on the PBS News Hour, “This is not as out of the norm as it’s appearing in the media. … Afghans are used to being killed.”

Sick-minded American savages clearly are not confined to the killing fields. With the long record of U.S. massacres that have gone unpunished or been treated lightly, Afghans can be forgiven for demanding that the latest Son of Uncle Sam be turned over to Afghan authorities for trial.

In late November 2001, hundreds of captured Afghan fighters were packed into sealed shipping containers and moved to the town of Mazar. Hundreds died of asphyxiation en route, were executed when some of the bodies were dumped along the way, or were killed when the containers were riddled with machine gun fire in Mazar under the watchful eyes of 30 to 40 U.S. Special Forces soldiers. The documentary Massacre at Mazar includes eyewitness accounts of the killings. No soldier has ever even faced a U.S. inquiry.

No U.S. personnel have been prosecuted for jet fighter attacks gone astray, or for bombing civilians targeted with unreliable “intel,” or for the pilotless drone massacres directed from thousands of miles away that have left scores of children dead. Eleven children ages 2 to 7 were killed last May 28; six kids were killed Nov. 24; eight more were killed Feb. 15. No charges were brought against two Marines in charge of a unit that killed 19 people and wounded 50 by firing indiscriminately at cars and bystanders in Afghanistan in 2008.

When U.S. crimes of war have been prosecuted the official trivialization of the atrocities and the lack of severe consequences have been appalling. The literate population of Afghanistan may be more attuned to the pattern than U.S. readers. Pvt. Charles Graner, a leader of the Abu Ghraib torture cell in Iraq was released after 6 ½ years of a 10-year sentence. In 2009, charges were dropped against four U.S. military contractors from Blackwater, Inc. who massacred 17 civilians in the square in Baghdad. This year, Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich was allowed to plead guilty to ‘dereliction of duty,’ after having overseen the cold-blooded murders of 24 sleeping civilians in Haditha, Iraq in 2005. He had told his men “Shoot first, ask questions later.” Six of them had their charges dropped and one was acquitted. Sgt. Wuterich walked free without any jail time.

A May 31, 2011 warning from President Karzai should now be reread by the Pentagon’s generals: “If they continue their attacks on our houses, then their presence will change from a force that is fighting terrorism to a force that is fighting against the people of Afghanistan. And in that case, history shows what Afghans do with trespassers and with occupiers.”

SWEET IS SLEEP TO ME AND EVEN MORE TO BE OF STONE,WHILE THE WRONG AND SHAME ENDURE.TO BE WITHOUT SIGHT OR SENSE IS A MOST HAPPY CHANGE FOR ME,THEREFORE DO NOT ROUSE ME. HUSH! SPEAK LOW. I said to God "I hate Life" God replied "Who asked you to love life? Just Love me & life will be beautiful" Living in favorable and unfavorable conditions is PART of living. Smiling in all those conditions is ART of living."Anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure you're worshiping an idol"

The US soldier accused of shooting dead 16 Afghans had received body and brain injuries while serving in Iraq and was unhappy about going for another tour of duty, a lawyer has said.

John Henry Browne said the soldier - who has not been named - had already completed three tours in Iraq.

He also said the accused had witnessed his friend's leg blown off the day before the killings.

Sunday's shootings have placed new strains on the US in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, a Nato helicopter carrying Turkish troops has crashed into a house on the outskirts of the capital Kabul killing at least 10 people.

Eight of the dead were on board and two on the ground, officials say.

Police told the BBC a technical fault was to blame.

The Taliban called off peace talks in the wake of the deadly rampage, in which men, women and children were shot and killed at close range.

However, the US later stressed it remained committed to Afghan reconciliation despite the move by the Taliban.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also told the US that it must pull back its troops from village areas and allow Afghan security forces to take the lead in an effort to reduce civilian deaths.

'Treat him fairly'

Speaking in Seattle, where the accused soldier is based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Mr Browne said his new client was a "mild-mannered" man who bore no antipathy towards Muslims.

He described him as "a decorated soldier" with an exemplary record before the shooting.

The lawyer also suggested the soldier was not fit to serve in Afghanistan because of injuries he had suffered on previous tours of duty.

"I think it's of interest that we have a soldier who has an exemplary record, a decorated soldier who was injured in Iraq, to his brain and to his body and then despite that was sent back," he said.

Mr Browne, who has represented a number of high-profile clients including serial killer Ted Bundy and a teenage thief known as the Barefoot Bandit, said his client was a happily married man with two children, aged three and four.

He denied reports that the accused had problems either with alcohol or his marriage, which Mr Browne described as "fantastic".

The US military has not yet charged the soldier, and Mr Browne said he would not release the accused's name until it was made public by officials.

However, despite the shock of the killings, Mr Browne called for calm and for the soldier to receive a fair hearing.

"It's a tragedy all the way round, there's no question about that.

"I think the message for the public in general is that he's one of our boys and they need to treat him fairly."

'Snapped'

Separately, an un-named US military official told the New York Times that the suspect had simply "snapped", and confirmed that he was on his fourth combat tour.

"When it all comes out, it will be a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues - he just snapped," the official said.

The soldier was flown out of Afghanistan on Wednesday and taken to a US military base in Kuwait.

According to the New York Times, he may be moved to a US facility, such as Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as early as Friday.

The newspaper said Kuwaiti protests over the presence of the accused soldier within their borders had prompted the US to move him quickly.

The attack, in Kandahar province, was the latest in a string of damaging incidents involving US troops in Afghanistan.

Last month, the burning of Korans by troops sparked a string of violent protests in several areas.

The latest attack has also caused uproar, with about 2,000 people demonstrating in the southern province of Zabul on Thursday, the second major protest outside Kandahar this week.

Treat him fairly because he snapped, whats there to treat fairly he admitted to being a savage blood thirsty crusader, the media is now trying to lighten the crime his done shame on all these publishers supporting such blood thirsty terrorists.

it is the responsibility of the higher ups to identify those at risk for these potential situations, and to remove them from the battlefield
one incident like this has now destroyed years of work by hundred's of thousands of US, ISAF, and ANA troops

this man's CO needs to be questioned/charged with dereliction for let this guy go off base with a weapon at 3am (plus this murderer is a staff Sargent, a Non-Commissioned Officer, his unit should also be evaluated after this incident, the social breakdown creates more potential loose cannons)

"The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self." (Bukhari)

"Acquire knowledge, it enables its prosessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven. It is our friend in thedesert, our company in solitude and companion when friendless. It guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it is an ornament amongst friends and an armor against enemies." (widely attributed to the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh))

Well, the next time a Taliban soilder blow himself up and take few GIs with him. please dont blame him, as he was simply "SNAPPED" due to the humililation of living under the shadow of occupation of his beloved country, or perhaps he was "snapped" due his his family members were killed by the american invading forces!!

Well, the next time a Taliban soilder blow himself up and take few GIs with him. please dont blame him, as he was simply "SNAPPED" due to the humililation of living under the shadow of occupation of his beloved country, or perhaps he was "snapped" due his his family members were killed by the american invading forces!!

What kind of non-sense these people come up

agreed except the taliban have every right to attack, kill, maim, blow up, etc. every foreign invader in their land and they would be/should be looked upon as heroes!

Well, the next time a Taliban soilder blow himself up and take few GIs with him. please dont blame him, as he was simply "SNAPPED" due to the humililation of living under the shadow of occupation of his beloved country, or perhaps he was "snapped" due his his family members were killed by the american invading forces!!

What kind of non-sense these people come up. Hang the fucker.

Well they are not going to hang the SOB... so they are making such excused and than declare him unfit for trials just the like Norwegian guy, who has been declared unfit so they whole truth about christian terrorist does not comes to light and same is happening here. Its a massive cover up. There are more than one person involved.

Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947. As the Creator willed it, the date corresponded with the empowering night of Ramadan 27 of the year 1366 after the Prophet’s Hijra. Its great destiny was thus set from the start

If we take our inspiration and guidance from the Holy Qur’an, the final victory, I once again say, will be ours… Do not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task… You only have to develop the spirit of the Mujahids. You are a nation whose history is replete with people of wonderful character and heroism. Live up to your traditions and add to another chapter of glory. All I require of you now is that everyone… must vow to himself and be prepared to sacrifice his all… in building up Pakistan as a bulwark of Islam and as one of the greatest nations whose ideal is peace within and peace without… Islam enjoins on every Mussulman to give protection to his neighbors and to minorities regardless of caste and creed. Muhammad Ali Jinnah

this is how Negro female slaves went through, when they were forced to be exported on ships to united states of america. Underway the sea route, they were forced to be used as entertainment, sexual abuse and be raped. After they would get sexually used, they would be thrown overboard with heavy weight tied to their feet and thrown into the sea while crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

Surely, the white race's individuals haven't changed and follow their white european settlers (now american though) method to exercise facism and suppress non-white people by even sexually using them and of course; to slay them off after they are no longer good to use.

- Behind every child born in india, There is ISI and Pakistan involved.
- There is excess salt in my chicken karahi .. i think ISI is involved
- I pissed three times today,, it is a conspiracy by ISI
- " My Girlfriend left me for an ISI Agent "

Pikes, i am sorry, but i do not remember that massacre. I assume it was done during the Vietnam war, could you please share what happend in My Lai, brother.

Peace

You are right bro, A company of US marines in Vietnam were involved in the massacre of around 504 innocent civilians (mostly women and children) on 16th march 1968None but one officer was charged and he just served 3 years in house arrest.

- Behind every child born in india, There is ISI and Pakistan involved.
- There is excess salt in my chicken karahi .. i think ISI is involved
- I pissed three times today,, it is a conspiracy by ISI
- " My Girlfriend left me for an ISI Agent "

yet, that was in 1968 - the former 20th Century, now we're in the 21st Modern, sophisticated and technologically advanced civilization still the same happens in Afghanistan and Iraq by newer generation of us/nato soldiers.

A brief info: western forces (nato/us forces) have priests taking part of prayers before sending them out for their patrols and before they engage in the battlefields with the Taliban.

The irony and digsusting part is, the western world isn't religious and mocks other religions at the same time. But western governments send priests in war along with their troops, even if the troops dont believe in anything at all, but do what they are trained to do; shoot, kill and ask later! And of course; the western governmets are secular and non-believing states who dont care about religions at all even if the western societies are based upon Biblical/Judaistic Laws.

Of course it can be thought that by sending Christian priests to war and eventually engaging in the battlefield as well against the Taliban, when is it that boundary crosses on war against terror based upon a secular, democratic and non-religious western world to ironically change Afghanistan into a secular, non-religious and democratic.
Or a religious us/nato force based upon the same mindset as the crusaders, as it also came forward when civilians were killed by us -forces in Afghanistan to engage religious and conservative Muslims.
The us soldiers who killed the innocent civil Afghanis, were also stating they were crusaders but were being protected by the western media and military officials as being post traumatic stressed and as heroes.
But a us military psychiatrist from the us forces came forwad in cnn and stated the officials and the media were not saying anything true at all.
Because the us soldiers who massacred the Afghanis knew what they were doing and why they were doing it. Thus wanting to displace everything afterwards like nothing happend because is part of the war and it's their war even if washington or pentagon come with direct orders !